Colt 1911 Target Airsoft Pistol Review

The Colt 1911 Target is an inexpensive spring airsoft pistol that is fun for plinking. If you never have had an airsoft gun before, it is also great for getting your feet wet in airsoft. It is based on the M1911 firearm that has been standard U.S. military issue in the past.

We got this gun (see photo above) at Walmart for around $10. It came with a red laser. Funny thing was that the same laser cost $8 by itself, which was what my friend really wanted. So I offered to buy the gun off him for $3, if he get the gun/laser package.

Cross-Reference
The laser sight is the same one as the one reviewed here: Swiss Arms Laser and Mount Review. The only difference is the one that comes with the Colt 1911 Target Airsoft Pistol has a shorter, non-coiled remote switch.

Both the gun and the laser are made out of plastic. The gun is transparent, so that you can tell it is an airsoft gun from afar. The laser is made out of black plastic, with a remote trigger and a elastic band to hold it anywhere on the gun. Sadly, the laser is not adjustable. But for $8, what can you expect from it?

The pistol is a spring model. You cock the slide prior to firing every shot. It's fun for plinking in your backyard, but it won't be competitive at an airsoft battle.

We fired the gun at a target about 10 feet away. The pistol is actually fairly accurate if you aim with the front and rear sight. If you can line up the sight picture correctly, you can hit the target spot on from 20 feet away. We also tested it 4 feet and it was still very accurate. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to test it at a distance greater than 20 feet.

There is no hop-up adjustment on this gun. So we are not sure how to change it's accuracy over time. We suppose once the gun wears out, you can afford to buy another one for $10.

It has a small safety switch, but it is not very precise. The switch and trigger are both plastic. So when the trigger is in safe, which prevents the plastic trigger from being pulled, it seems that it's possible to break the trigger. Therefore, it seems better to leave the switch on fire, but not cock the slide for safety. The safety switch also differs from the rear grip safety on the real M1911.

The magazine release is a small button on the left side of the hand grip. When you push it, the magazine slides right out. On a side note, the plastic gun is so light, the manufacturer place a lead rod in the magazine well to weigh the gun. The magazine holds 12 rounds and uses a spring to push the BB's into firing position. While loading, the spring can be locked into the down position. The package doesn't come with a speed loader, which forces you to load each BB into the magazine by hand.

A sticker on the side of the gun says it has a maximum power of 0.3 joules. That translates to 180 FPS with 0.2 gram BB's.

The gun has a bottom Picatinny rail to attach the laser that comes with it. You can also use it to mount other accessories. However, the slots are fake and does not meet the full Picatinny specs. Therefore accessory mounts with a bolt going through the Picatinny slot will not work.

On the Field

I took the Colt 1911 Target pistol onto an local indoor CQB field, simply because it was the only airsoft pistol I owned. In one game, my AEG rifle ran out of battery. So I pulled this spring pistol out to arm myself. In the game, I was able to "kill" someone with one shot, while at the same time, being "killed" by the other person.

In hindsight, a spring airsoft gun is a great back up gun for days when all of your battery and gas run out at a field.

Disassembly

The entire gun is two clam shells. The top slide is one clam shell, while the bottom portion of the gun is another clamshell. It's not necessary to disassemble the bottom portion for most purposes.

The slide clam shells are held together by three small screws. Use a precision screwdriver to take it apart. Then wiggle the two clam shell lose. The photo below shows the result of removing the slide shells.

Once the slide clam shells are removed, you can see the spring firing mechanism (gearbox). The spring on the barrel is the slide return. At this time, you can remove the slide spring. Note the direction of the spring, so that you can reinstall it in the same manner.

The spring that actually powers the BB is at the back. To remove this spring, you have to take the firing mechanism out of the gun. It is held into the gun by one screw. Remove the screw and carefully pry the bottom part of the gun apart; not completely, because there are still screws holding it together. Just pry enough apart to get the firing mechanism out (see photo below).

Once you pull the firing mechanism out, you can removing the piston spring. The photo below compares the different springs. The top spring in the photo is the weaker slide spring. The piston spring is the middle spring in the photo.

The third spring at the bottom of the photo is from a version 2 AEG gearbox from the APS ASR106 Mini Patriot M4. Originally, we wanted to try that spring in the Colt 1911 Target spring pistol to raise its FPS. But after doing the comparison, we realized that the AEG spring is way too long. We'll have to find a better alternative.